On the afternoon of November 12, continuing the 10th Session, the National Assembly discussed in the hall the draft Law on Civil Aviation of Vietnam (amended).
At the discussion session, National Assembly delegate (NA) Huynh Thi Phuc (HCMC delegation) mentioned the situation of flight delays and cancellations.
According to this delegate, Article 53 of the draft law stipulates the responsibility of airlines when flights are delayed, canceled, or transported. However, these regulations are only at the general level.
"If there are no specific mechanisms and sanctions, the rights of passengers will still be suspended as the current situation" - delegate Huynh Thi Phuc said and suggested that the airline must not publicly disclose the reasons for delay, delay, cancellation of flights and the expected time to fix them and not more than twice.
This person gave an example, at the 8th and 9th Sessions, there were flights that the National Assembly deputies attended meetings were delayed up to three times and more than 2 hours.
It is a reality and many members of the National Assembly have witnessed this - the delegate said and added that when passengers are informed early, they can proactively arrange their work and reduce stress.
As for cases of force majeure due to weather and technical reasons, it must be accepted, with no limit on the number of times and time.
According to the delegate, it is necessary to clearly stipulate the time limit for refunding tickets in the direction of a maximum of 7 working days, from the date of receipt of a valid request. If delayed, the company may have to pay sanctions or corresponding compensation. Currently, passengers who are refunded often take a long time to receive the money.
The female delegate of the Ho Chi Minh City delegation said that it is necessary to pay attention to the transparency of the passenger service process. When there are no procedures or standards, passengers do not know what rights they have, and the service staff do not have a consistent basis to handle when situations occur.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam needs to periodically publish the performance indicators of each airline such as the on-time refund rate and the complaint settlement rate.
The disclosure is not to create pressure but to form a positive competitive mechanism, helping passengers have transparent information when choosing services.
Regarding this issue, delegate Nguyen Tam Hung (HCMC delegation) said that the draft law stipulates the responsibility to notify and care for passengers; arrange routes or refunds when the airline is at fault and compensation before delay, cancellation, or refusal due to airline errors.
However, the concepts of "slow delay" and "pre-aivance compensation" are still determinative, easily leading to different understandings.
Regarding the mechanism for resolving complaints - quick compensation for passengers, the delegate stated that the bill is designing a fairly complete complaint period for luggage and goods. However, there are no specialized procedures for delays or cancellations.
Therefore, it is proposed to add an article in the draft law stipulating a deadline for receipt - response within 3 working days. The maximum deadline for advance compensation payment is 7 days; the deadline for final settlement is 30 days.
Explaining the delay and cancellation of flights, Minister of Construction Tran Hong Minh said the objective reasons were due to weather, shortage of aircraft, disruption of the supply chain of spare parts, limited aviation infrastructure conditions, and high exploitation density.
The Minister of Construction gave an example of a flight to Tan Son Nhat airport when there was no runway, having to wait 15 minutes, even an hour in the sky.
A airlines are also very impatient and this causes environmental pollution, which costs money on fuel - the Minister of Construction shared.
According to the Minister, the bill has added regulations related to the responsibility of airlines for delayed and delayed flights to tighten fines and ensure passengers.
With the situation of flight delays and cancellations, the Minister hopes to share. Because industry leaders and airlines do not want this to happen.
